Know exactly what you are buying
300 pearl and jewellery terms, each one linked to a piece you can hold.
Where would you like to begin?
Types of Pearl
Freshwater, saltwater, South Sea, keshi, and how to tell a real pearl from a coated bead.
Shapes
Round, baroque, drop, coin and the rest, and what each one is worth paying for.
Quality & Grading
What AAA actually means, plus lustre, nacre, orient and the claims to be sceptical of.
Size & Length
Millimetres, choker to rope, bangle sizing, and which length suits which neckline.
Jewellery Styles
Jhumka, mangalsutra, kundan, polki, temple work and the rest of the Indian vocabulary.
Gold & Hallmarking
Karat versus carat, 22K and 18K, 916, plating, vermeil and what a BIS hallmark proves.
Gemstones & Cuts
Ruby, emerald, sapphire and zircon, their Indian names, and the cuts from princess to cabochon.
Metals & Plating
925 silver, platinum, brass and the alloys and finishes a piece is actually built from.
Clasps & Construction
Clasps, knotting, drilling and settings, the parts that decide whether a piece survives.
Care & Authenticity
Storing pearls, the tooth test, restringing, and the astrological terms buyers ask about.
Buying & Value
Making charges, wastage, gold rate, GST, buyback and what a piece is actually worth.
Every term
73–96 of 300
Cultured Pearl
A real pearl grown in a farmed mollusc after a technician places an irritant inside it. Essentially every pearl on the market is cultured.
Cushion Cut
A square or rectangular cut with rounded corners, like a pillow. Softer and warmer in character than a princess.
Cut
How a stone is shaped and faceted. The one thing that most affects how it looks, and the one buyers examine least.
Dholak Bead
A drum-shaped bead, wider at the middle and tapering to both drilled ends. Named after the dholak drum.
Diamond
Crystallised carbon, the hardest natural material. Heera in Hindi, and graded on the four Cs.
Digital Gold
Buying gold by value rather than by piece, held in a vault on your behalf and redeemable in coins or jewellery.
Dori
A silk or cotton cord closing the back of a necklace, tied rather than clasped, so the length adjusts to the wearer.
Dosham-Free Pearl
A pearl free of the specific flaws that Vedic astrology considers inauspicious: cracks, pits, spots and irregular colour.
102 in stock · from ₹7,245
Drop
Tapered at one end and rounded at the other, like a teardrop. Highly valued when the taper is symmetrical.
10 in stock · from ₹2,500
Dyed Pearl
A real pearl whose colour has been added after harvest. Standard practice, and entirely fine when it is disclosed.
95 in stock · from ₹400
Ear Cuff
An ornament that grips the outer edge of the ear rather than passing through a piercing.
Ear Wire
The hook that passes through the piercing on a hanging earring.
Edison Pearl
A large bead-nucleated freshwater pearl grown in China, reaching South Sea sizes at freshwater prices.
Emerald
The green variety of beryl. Panna in Hindi, the stone of Mercury, and almost always full of internal inclusions.
34 in stock · from ₹1,600
Emerald Cut
A rectangular step cut with cut corners and long parallel facets. Named for the cut used on emeralds.
Exotic Pearl Colours
Pearls outside the white and cream range: pink, peach, lavender, grey, golden, blue, green and multi-shaded strands.
70 in stock · from ₹3,300
Facet
One flat polished surface on a cut stone. Their number and angles decide how it returns light.
Filigree
Lacework made from fine twisted wire, soldered into openwork patterns. Light for its size.
Findings
The trade word for all the small functional parts of a piece: clasps, jump rings, posts, backs, caps and pins.
Fineness
Purity expressed in parts per thousand rather than karats. 999, 916, 750 and 585 are the numbers you will see stamped.
Finger Ring
A ring set with a pearl, usually a single dome-backed or button pearl in a protective setting.
40 in stock · from ₹400
Fireball Pearl
A freshwater pearl with a comet-like tail, formed when the mussel partly rejects the bead.
Fixed Price
One price for the finished piece, with no separate metal, labour and tax lines. Standard for pearl and fashion jewellery.
Flat
Deliberately flattened pearls, including squares, pentagons and irregular tablets.
3 in stock · from ₹3,750